Abstract
BackgroundChronic low back pain (CLBP) is a highly disabling morbidity with high social, economic and individual effects. Demographic, occupational and behavioral changes that took place in Brazil over the last decade are related with an increasing burden of chronic conditions. Despite these changes, comparison studies on CLBP prevalence and associated factors, over time are scarce in the literature in general, and unknown in Brazil. The present study compared the CLBP prevalence in a medium sized city in Brazil between the years 2002 and 2010 and examined factors associated with prevalence in 2010.MethodsTwo cross-sectional studies with similar methodology were conducted in a medium-sized city in southern Brazil, in 2002 and 2010. 3182 individuals were interviewed in the first study and 2732 in the second one, all adults aged twenty years or more. Those who reported pain for seven weeks or more in the last three months in the lumbar region where considered cases of CLBP.ResultsThe CLBP prevalence increased from 4.2% to 9.6% in 8 years. In most of the studied subgroups the CLBP prevalence has at least doubled and the increase was even larger among younger individuals with more years of education and higher economic status.ConclusionsIncrease in CLBP prevalence is worrisome because it is a condition responsible for substantial social impact, besides being an important source of demand for health services.
Highlights
Chronic low back pain (CLBP) is a highly disabling morbidity with high social, economic and individual effects
Studies using the criterion of pain lasting six months or more have shown a consistent prevalence around 15%, while those that defined CLBP as continuous pain for three months or more, have shown prevalence ranging from 4 to 24%. [1,4,5,6,7,11,12,18,19,20,21]
Population According to the 2000 Brazilian Census, the city of Pelotas was organized into 404 census tracks
Summary
Chronic low back pain (CLBP) is a highly disabling morbidity with high social, economic and individual effects. Demographic, occupational and behavioral changes that took place in Brazil over the last decade are related with an increasing burden of chronic conditions Despite these changes, comparison studies on CLBP prevalence and associated factors, over time are scarce in the literature in general, and unknown in Brazil. Low back pain is defined as a pain or discomfort located below the margin of the 12th rib and above the inferior gluteal fold, with or without leg pain [1] This is a very common complaint where, most of the time, resolution and return to work occurs in three months or less [2]. Regardless, chronic low back pain (CLBP) is a significantly disabling condition, responsible for long periods of absence from work. In addition to different CLBP definitions, variation in prevalence may be related to non-response rates, to methodological variability, to different cultural settings and to differences in prevalence over time [6,20]
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